Sci-Fi / Fantasy Reads

[ithuriel]

Watched the movie which  was apparently quite different from the book, never understood why a series has never been made based on the book which I've heard a bit about but have yet to read.

 

[Zear0]

11 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

Watched the movie which  was apparently quite different from the book, never understood why a series has never been made based on the book which I've heard a bit about but have yet to read.

 

Not read it for some time but do recall the book being great. Mix of horror and crime literature and quite Dracula-esque of having the creature live among us. 

[gerblod]

On 02/08/2023 at 21:58, CheeseHead said:

 

For the FT sci-fi/fantasy readers out there, what/who were your own early influences?

Frederick Pohl, Aldiss, Sheckley, Hal Clement, van Vogt. Above all I think Pohl, James Blish and Philip Dick.

[CheeseHead]

Just finished 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem. Decent but unfulfilling ending. On to 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula K Le Guin

[Zear0]

1 minute ago, CheeseHead said:

Just finished 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem. Decent but unfulfilling ending. On to 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula K Le Guin

Superb book. If you enjoy The Dispossessed, I'd consider giving The Left Hand of Darkness a go too. She's more known for Earthsea, but those two books are her greatest works for me. 

[EnderbyFox]

Just finished the latest book in the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, so good. Definitely recommend.

 

 

Red Rising is a futuristic dystopian series set in a world where society is divided up into various Colors. Each Color has a particular job that they contribute to society, and the Colors also create a very strict social hierarchy. The Red Rising series follows Darrow, a member of the Reds, the lowest ranked Color. The Reds lived below the surface of Mars and they mine energy for the rest of the society. The Reds have always been told that they must stay underground because humans have made the surface completely uninhabitable. However, Darrow (and the reader) finds out that the situation is much more complicated than that. After suffering tragedy at the hands of the tyrannical government running their society, Darrow decides to infiltrate the highest levels of society, the Golds, and dismantle it from the inside out.

 

 

[Number 6]

Some good recommendations in here thanks all.

 

My gateway in was probably through being a big Iain Banks fan and so dabbling in some Iain M Banks stuff. Really enjoyed The Player of Games.

 

Dune probably the pinnacle of the genre on the sci fi side for me. The Name Of The Wind, or A Song of Ice And Fire on the fantasy side (A Storm of Swords is right up there with Dune).

 

Recently really enjoyed the Broken Earth series by NK Jemesin. Though the first in the trilogy is definitely the strongest. The Silo series by Hugh Howey was also really enjoyable (series currently on Apple TV+).

[Trav Le Bleu]

Just finishing off The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter & Terry Prachett.

 

5th and final book in the Long Earth series and I've loved it.

 

Essentially humankind learns to travel between parallel Earths by "stepping", an endless chain of differing earths that have developed separately and so are very slightly different. However, it's only our earth that has humans on it, though some earths have humanoid creatures living on them.

 

It's an interesting idea, well worked. What would humanity do, given an infinite space to easily expand into? Would governments lose their grip on their people? Would wars stop, when it is so easy to just "step" away? How would markets cope with a sudden infinite source of raw materials.

 

The world's the two authors create are imaginative and mostly very different for our earth and the creatures that inhabit them are weird and wonderful.

 

I've basically hoovered up this whole series in one go (I read the first book, then saw a box set in The Works for £10), and loved every page of it.

 

Recommended.

[CheeseHead]

So I've just watched Dune 2. Pretty good, though felt a little disjointed at times. But I guess it is not the easiest book to take to the big screen. I'm sure there were quite a differences with the book, but I seem to recall that the Baron was killed by a born Alia, or am I imagining things? Paul kills him in the film.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Having a sci-fi binge at the moment.

 

Recently read Prelude to Foundation and Foundation (the later being almost 80 years old and unintentionally humourous because all the characters (and they're all male) are constantly smoking. Barely a couple of pages pass by without someone lighting up! ) and enjoyed them (despite the dated view of the future).

 

I've also read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and it's become one of my favourite books. I've seen Blade Runner numerous times (original and director's cut), but the book is sufficiently different to be worth reading. In fact, BR 2049 probably has more in common with the book.

 

Right now I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 and enjoying that too. Again, dated, yet in many ways Bradbury captures our modern fast culture right on the nose.

 

Got Slaughterhouse 5, Brave New World and Pebble in the Sky lined up too, largely thanks to a quant old-fashioned bookshop in Grantown-on-Spey which was owned by a tiny little old lady who had a lovely for sci-fi and a shelf (behind the till) full of classic Sci-fi!

[Legend_in_blue]

Currently just about to start the third book in The Expanse series.  Also making sure of reading all the short stories in-between the main books as I go through them to add some backstory in here and there.

[CheeseHead]

Recently finished the first book of Jack Vance's Tales Of The Dying Earth. Now on ACC's Rendezvous With Rama, with Peter Watts' Firefall lined up next.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Whilst on holiday I came across the first book of The Last Chronicle of Thomas Covenant, The Runes of the Earth.

 

I had no idea there was a third series of Thomas Covenant books. I'd read the first two when they first came out (1980s) and this wasn't written until the 2000s.

 

Has Stephen Donaldson (the author) lost it in that time. Thankfully not. Loving this as much as the first two chronicles and they're some of my favourite books.

 

Hefty reading though. Each book is 600+ pp.

[ramboacdc]

On 01/06/2024 at 20:21, Legend_in_blue said:

Currently just about to start the third book in The Expanse series.  Also making sure of reading all the short stories in-between the main books as I go through them to add some backstory in here and there.

I highly recommend this series. The TV show is just as good, apart from having to write a character out in the show due to accusations against the actor. 

 

Sci Fi-wise, I loved We Are Legion, We Are Bob. Fantasy wise I am currently going through The Witcher series. I loved the game and like everyone else hated the Netflix adaptation. 

[FoxyPV]

Going through the Red Rising series at the moment 

 

Finished Witcher and Poppy Wars series as well which were both very good

[CheeseHead]

12 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Whilst on holiday I came across the first book of The Last Chronicle of Thomas Covenant, The Runes of the Earth.

 

I had no idea there was a third series of Thomas Covenant books. I'd read the first two when they first came out (1980s) and this wasn't written until the 2000s.

 

Has Stephen Donaldson (the author) lost it in that time. Thankfully not. Loving this as much as the first two chronicles and they're some of my favourite books.

 

Hefty reading though. Each book is 600+ pp.

Read the first series in the 80s as well, got me well into the fantasy genre. Still own the books. Need to catch up with the later books. Always found it strangely bizzare that leprosy was Donaldson's chosen affliction for Covenant!

[Trav Le Bleu]

40 minutes ago, CheeseHead said:

Read the first series in the 80s as well, got me well into the fantasy genre. Still own the books. Need to catch up with the later books. Always found it strangely bizzare that leprosy was Donaldson's chosen affliction for Covenant!

I think his dad was a doctor in India who came across it a lot (might even have been his specialism?)

[Phenom]

The Sun Eater series is incredible already and I’ve only read the first two books. Apparently it gets even better.

Edited 20 August 2024 by Phenom

[Trav Le Bleu]

Just finished reading The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

 

I wasn't aware there was a 3rd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (written some 20-30 years after the 2nd Chronicles), until I came across the first book (Runes of the Earth) in a charity shop.

 

I wasn't disappointed. Stave, the Haruchai master, is one of my favourite literary characters, what a hero! If you like epic fantasy, this is a must.

[simFox]

On 03/08/2023 at 18:09, oakman said:

David Gemmell was a favourite growing up and I've re-read the first 3 books of the Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn & A Darkness at Sethanon)  by Raymond E. Feist countless times. Absolutely love them.

 

More recently I've read the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik - think 'Napoleonic War with dragons', really enjoyed them.

Anything by Gemmel. Such a shame to lose a great writer. His wife finished his last book. 

 

Morningstar is a particular favorite. Classic anti hero. But all the drenai series is great, especially with druss in it. 

[Zear0]

54 minutes ago, simFox said:

Anything by Gemmel. Such a shame to lose a great writer. His wife finished his last book. 

 

Morningstar is a particular favorite. Classic anti hero. But all the drenai series is great, especially with druss in it. 

It'd the cliché answer, but Legend was always my favourite. Brilliant author. 

[the fox]

The drop-off in quality between the first 2 books and the rest of the stormlight archive books is actually disgusting. Such a waste of time. Kaladin was one of my favourite MCs

 

But then again, I'm based towards progression fantasy and the "chosen one" trope, so 

 

 

 

ps: Moash is overhated by the fanbase

[Zear0]

1 hour ago, the fox said:

The drop-off in quality between the first 2 books and the rest of the stormlight archive books is actually disgusting. Such a waste of time. Kaladin was one of my favourite MCs

 

But then again, I'm based towards progression fantasy and the "chosen one" trope, so 

 

 

 

ps: Moash is overhated by the fanbase

Finally on Book 5 myself and finding it a bit of a chore tbh. Agree the first two were great as the scope was much narrower. 

[the fox]

12 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Finally on Book 5 myself and finding it a bit of a chore tbh. Agree the first two were great as the scope was much narrower. 

After the 3rd book, I refused to invest much of my time on reading the 4th so I just youtubed a summary of it and even then I felt I was robbed of my time. I read that Sanderson's "prose" aren't the best but even the plot is lacking. And yeah, too many Jesnah chapters. 

 

What really put me off is the way Kalidan's PTSD was handeld especially when you compare it to Dalinar's so it's the author's choice to go that route. I kept waiting a redemption arc for Kaladin and wouldn't you know it, it came by the hands of Dalinar striping him of his military duty so I thought "maybe this is the wake-up call that Kaladin needs" he could've chosen to lash-out at Dalinar, refuse his commands and keep leading the squad that he assembled,  or maybe just walk away and start anew but nah, he choose group-therapy when people are dying all-round him. That was the nail on the coffin for me not just for the MC but also the book series.

 

I don't mind sub-par writing, world building, characters, or plot because I have read some trashy fantasy novels,  but when you write characters like Wit and Dalinar and then serve me that, now you are just pushing how far your fanbase can tolerate your nonsense.

 

 

 

[Zear0]

26 minutes ago, the fox said:

After the 3rd book, I refused to invest much of my time on reading the 4th so I just youtubed a summary of it and even then I felt I was robbed of my time. I read that Sanderson's "prose" aren't the best but even the plot is lacking. And yeah, too many Jesnah chapters. 

 

What really put me off is the way Kalidan's PTSD was handeld especially when you compare it to Dalinar's so it's the author's choice to go that route. I kept waiting a redemption arc for Kaladin and wouldn't you know it, it came by the hands of Dalinar striping him of his military duty so I thought "maybe this is the wake-up call that Kaladin needs" he could've chosen to lash-out at Dalinar, refuse his commands and keep leading the squad that he assembled,  or maybe just walk away and start anew but nah, he choose group-therapy when people are dying all-round him. That was the nail on the coffin for me not just for the MC but also the book series.

 

I don't mind sub-par writing, world building, characters, or plot because I have read some trashy fantasy novels,  but when you write characters like Wit and Dalinar and then serve me that, now you are just pushing how far your fanbase can tolerate your nonsense.

 

 

 

Yeah the whole stuff with Wit was bizarre, sometimes forgot I wasn't reading Farseer Trilogy as the character is practically identical to The Fool.